İçindekiler - İlahiyat Fakültesi - Marmara Üniversitesi

140 Mehmet Ozay
education in Malaya was explicitly imparted at suraus, masjids, and, additionally,
in the home of the Imam. Occasionally, homes of distinguished people were also
used as centers to impart the traditional form of schooling. Arabic and Qur’anic
exegises were introduced to the younger generation particularly through rotelearning.
Since the syllabus was mainly limited to teaching the Qur’an, this
educational activity was referred to as Qur’an school or class. In addition, the
students were taught a little Malay later, after they had learned to read and write
the Qur’an in Arabic. 6
In some regions of Malaya formal education was indeed conducted in traditional
religious seminaries called pondok, where the daily life of students was
organized wholly around teaching and practice. It might be useful to refer to the
pondok system as the core source of Malay moral culture, containing not only
religious texts but also classical Malay literature. Traditional religious education
was conducted at pondoks over several generations. ‘Pondok’ is a word of Arabic
origin, namely ‘findûk” which means accommodation place (Berarti Tempat
Penginapan). 7
Sociologically, traditional religious education was in line with the basic needs
of the people in rural areas. Taking into consideration the fact that traditional
life followed a rustic and pastoral pattern, each village had a religious institution
of some kind within its milieu; and it is not exceptional to say that each young
boy, starting from the age of six, could attend the local Qur’an classes. It might
be assumed that those pupils with abilities and talents could continue their
studies in some distinguished pondok where they could further their education.
As the title suggests, in addition, students were taught how to write in the Jawi
script, Malay written in Arabic alphabet. M. A. Rauf mentions that there is a
possibility that the teaching of the Malay language was also in the curriculum. 8
Both, foreign ulema and the native religious scholastic cadre, took part in the
teaching process. They were able to establish a system of teaching several religious
subjects, among which learning how to recite the Qur’an was the prime
focus, generation after generation. 9 Conversely, there appears to be no lay school
of any kind, whether run by private individuals or under the Sultanate’s administration,
in the pre-colonial era.
Even though there is scant information regarding the curriculum of these
traditional schools, it is known that the most salient aspect of the curriculum
was, in fact, the teaching of the basic tenets of Islam. It is assumed, however,
6
Francis H. K. Wong, Gwee Yee Hean, Official Reports on Education in The Straits Settlements
and The Federated Malay States 1870-1939, Pan Pacific Book Distributors, Singapore, 1980, p.
2.
7
Abdul Latif Hamidong, “Institusi Pondok dalam Tradisi Budaya Ilmu”, Tan Sri Ismail Hussein-
A. Aziz Deraman- Abd. Rahman Al-Ahmadi, (eds.), Tamadun Melayu, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka,
Kuala Lumpur, 1993, s. 745.
8
M. A. Rauf, “Islamic Education”, p. 16.
9
Abu Bakar Hamzah, Al-Imam, p. 62.